1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for data processing in general, and in particular to a method and system for providing data communications between two independent buses within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for verifying control accesses between a device on a non-proprietary bus and a device on a proprietary bus within a data processing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A proprietary bus is a bus that is intended for the private use of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and access to a proprietary bus is generally restricted in order to limit any liability from actions that may be caused by inappropriate commands being sent on the proprietary bus. One example of a proprietary bus is the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. The CAN bus is an ISO-defined serial communications bus that was originally developed during the late 1980""s for the automotive industry. The basic design specification of the CAN bus calls for a high bit-rate, a high immunity to electrical interference, and an ability to detect any errors produced. Not surprisingly, the CAN bus rapidly came to be widely used throughout the automotive and aerospace industries over the years, mainly due to the above-mentioned advantageous features.
The CAN communications protocol, which conforms with the layered configuration defined by the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, describes the method by which data are passed between devices coupled to the CAN bus. The CAN architecture defines the lowest two layers as a data-link layer and a physical layer. The application layers are linked to the physical medium by the layers of various emerging protocols, which may be specific to a particular industry or propriety schemes defined by individual CAN users.
The present disclosure describes a method and system for verifying control accesses from a device on a non-proprietary bus to a device on a proprietary bus, such as a CAN bus.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a gateway controller is connected between a proprietary bus and a non-proprietary bus. A determination is made as to whether or not a non-proprietary device is registered to more than one gateway controller. In response to a determination that the non-proprietary device is registered to more than one gateway controller, another determination is made as to whether or not the non-proprietary device is a portable device. In response to a determination that the non-proprietary device is a portable device, another determination is made as to whether or not a number of acceptable duplication has been exceeded. In response to a determination that the number of acceptable duplication has been exceeded, a flag is set to indicate a control access violation has occurred.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.